Jedi Crossing 2
by Quick Zero
Summary: As Deshawn and Raena are hunted on Tatooine, Deshawn grows increasingly frustrated from being on the run constantly. Finally, he makes a bold move to bring an ultimate end to his struggles...but is it enough?
1. Hunted

Disclaimer: This story is based on George Lucas's series of movies Star Wars…I claim most of the characters, I just base the ideas on the movie…so don't sue me…I don't plan on owning Star Wars by the end of this story, so this applies to all the chapters.

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I looked out of the small, dirt window of the underground, hand-built house, and gazed at the two beautiful suns rising in the sky. I felt a cool sensation trickle down my back inducing seductive thoughts involuntarily into my subconscious thoughts. I glanced over my shoulder at a female figure standing in a meditative stance behind me. She was about 5' 8" and weight about 105 lbs. She had a curvaceous figure, light hazel eyes, and milky chocolate skin. Her white hair fell around her face in a bright contrast to the rest of her body, making her seem to glow brilliantly even in the direct sunlight.

"You know, I kind of like the change," I commented on her new hair. "As much attention as it seems to be drawing."

"Try as I might," Raena said in a soft voice. "I can't seem to sneak up on you. Now what makes you think some clumsy bounty hunter will manage to penetrate your mental defenses?"

"Nothing is absolute, especially my mental abilities. It's this knowledge of weakness that keeps me sharp." I said turning around to face her. "Plus, your presence is so familiar to me now, it can sense you several systems away."

Raena giggled, "a week and a half of spending all day indoors with one person will do that I guess. But you have to admit, you are becoming extremely sensitive to anything out of the ordinary."

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?" I challenged her, a favorite game of mine.

"Yesterday I saw you slice a rat scurrying around the chair. Now you were half asleep, and the sizzling from the dinner I was fixing made it nearly impossible to hear." Raena complimented me proudly. "If you didn't smell it, or see it, or hear it, or touch it. How did you know it was there?"  
"Maybe I got lucky?" I shrugged.

"A Jedi is never lucky or unlucky." Raena wrapped her arms around me. "A Jedi simply goes where the force takes him."

"You are getting good." I said following her lead and embracing her.

"So why this newfound sensitivity? As useful as it's bound to be, I'm shocked it came so suddenly." Raena asked slightly concerned.

"It wasn't sudden, it was about as gradual as it could have been. You're just now seeing evidence of it," I corrected her. "And let's just say, about 10 of our 11 days here, I've spent over ¾ of the day sensing for possible enemies."

"Déshawn, we need to get out, you're gonna lose it if you keep it up." Raena pulled back looking at me worriedly.

"I'm fine."

"You're getting paranoid."

"What happened to being sensitive?" I asked.

"To a rat?" she asked.

"Well, he probably had rabies." I defended myself.

"You can't be cooped up here just looking for some conspiracy by the Federation to kill us." Raena scolded me.

"Raena…" I started, but I was suddenly stopped by a powerful wave of intense heat passing through my body. It didn't burn, but it did wake me up to the warning that it was delivering, and the way that it just passed through me indicated the direction of our danger.

"You felt it too?" Raena asked, cuing in on my sudden pause.

"It's a ship," I explained reaching out further with my senses. "Just entered orbit, and passed over us…that's the only thing that would've moved that quickly overhead."

"Is it big?" she asked, her concentrated expression showing that she too was trying to sense what I was.

My mind warped my vision into outer space and I saw a hazy outline becoming more and more bold as I focused more and more Force power into sensing our enemies.

"No, about average size. Larger than the one we rode with Trance on, but smaller than the one Shomari stole." I said as I saw the red painted battleship. I assumed it was a battleship because of the extensive weaponry on it.

"Can you tell how many people?" she prodded still focusing harder.

"Hmm," I sat down and closed my eyes. The ship seemed to grow larger as my vision zoomed in. "It's a battleship, all those guns," as my mind passed to the inside of the bounty hunter's transport I noticed something else. "And the armor is thicker than my light saber is long."

"Oh no…it's small enough to enter the atmosphere for a direct attack on us," Raena gasped.

"They won't," I said as I watched about 7 bounty hunters file out into separate escape pods. "They're entering the escape pods now. Besides, the Hutts have enough power to make the Federation leave them alone. Bounty hunters wouldn't stand a chance."

"Let's get ready," Raena said, yanking me out of my vision.

"How'd they find us?" I asked as I swept into my room putting on my black Jedi robe and pulled up the hood. Grabbing my light saber I spun around to find Raena in the doorway.

"Someone told them," she said solemnly.

"Only Shomari and Trance knew where we were. Even the Council has no idea." I said with disbelief in my voice.

"But they wouldn't have…" Raena refused to believe what seemed the obvious truth.

"No, it's not hard to think to look for someone on Tatooine. They probably don't know where we're at." I reasoned. "Let's just relax, you're right. I am paranoid."

"But Déshawn, you sensed them yourself," Raena said.

Suddenly another wave of heat came into existence on my chest and I tensed up again. The heat grew in intensity until I was sure that the danger was right in front of me.

"They're here." I said simply.

"So we were betrayed," Raena said with finality in her tone.

I ignited my light saber, which has been re-built so as to avoid anyone recognizing my old blade. It was now a double-sided blade, which could have one or both sides ignited at once. The main side, that I was currently using, glowed a deep blue, however the other side, which I used occasionally to confuse anyone who might have seen my light saber but not my face, was a deep red, so I could pass as a Sith if needed. This was in case I needed to fool anyone I recognized that might have seen me fight before. Also, I liked the double-sided blades for more effective combat against surrounding enemies.

I looked up to the ceiling and cut a hole large enough for Raena and I to fit through at the same time. Then the warnings I'd constantly been sensing suddenly increased in a flash as the wall was blown inwards by what seemed to be a rocket. Dust, rocks, and other debris hit Raena and me as we covered our faces to defend ourselves. Using the now-stirred dust was in the air; we jumped through the hole quickly escaping the large group of bounty hunters, which was bigger than I'd estimated at first, before they spotted us. Since our hide-away had been underground we'd made a seeming manhole in the middle of the market. We looked around at the shoppers who were staring at Raena and I in disbelief and shock. Then I realized what the explosion and our sudden appearance had probably done to the people on the ground above us.

"We weren't here," Raena said quickly.

The two of us took off running down the street, making a right turn into an alley as soon as possible, just as we heard jetpacks firing behind us. I turned suddenly, looking behind us as I saw almost 15 armored bounty hunters flying behind us.

"Not good," I said to myself.

"We can't fight that many bounty hunters at once!" Raena said in a sharp voice that shook me out of my daze. "Let's go Déshawn!"

"You go ahead, I'll try to split them up," I decided heroically.

"You always do this," Raena said. Then she consented, her eyes pleading as she slipped backwards into the shadows, "come back to me Déshawn."

I turned and jumped, using the Force to boost myself up, leapt onto the bottom level of the fire escape. About 5 of the bounty hunters landed below me while the rest dropped onto the fire escape above and below me, effectively trapping me in the middle. Looking back at the 5 on the ground I saw that they had assembled sniper blasters and were taking careful aim at me. Then, I felt a warning flash of heat on my feet, letting me know it was time to move on. I ran to the edge of the railing as my assailants closed in on me, I leapt off the fire escape and hit the side of the building; my hands barely catching the edge of the roof, as I'd fallen short in my attempt to squeeze below the stairs above me, which would have been painful to hit. Then I felt several warning flashes as every bounty hunter prepared to fire at my exposed and unprotected back.


	2. Smash and Grab?

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…I'd fallen short in my attempt to squeeze below the stairs above me, which would have been painful to hit. Then I felt several warning flashes as every bounty hunter prepared to fire at my exposed and unprotected back. In a panic I let go of the 2-story building, dropping right as they all let loose crumbling the edge of the wall I'd been hanging on seconds ago. However, the resulting explosions blew me away from the wall and ruined my landing, causing my drop onto my right ankle to be at a painful angle. The following snap was nearly loud enough for Raena to hear. I groaned in pain as another barrage of laser bolts flew out at my helpless form. However, the rain of debris from above me finally managed to catch up and covered me in a heavy pile of rocks. My lucky, but painful, shield didn't last long as the massive fire rained uninterrupted blasting away the unusual cover. The rocks that landed in front of me were soon decimated to small pebbles. The group advanced upon me, and they lifted the rocks off of me throwing them to the side. 3 of the bounty hunters picked me up, and the rest trained large, automatic, blasters at my face.

"Good job men," one of them said through his helmet. "We managed to get one alive."

"I'm very proud of you," I mocked.

"Shut it!" the apparent leader hit me in the back of the head causing my vision to blur.

I reached behind me with a blanket of Force, and slipped it under the pile of rocks that they'd unburied me from.

"That hurt," I complained sarcastically. "You could of just asked me to shut it."

"Get his light saber." The leader ordered.

I then pulled the blanket of Force back to myself violently, causing a rainstorm of rocks to hit the bounty hunter, knocking most of them out painfully. Leaving the 3 that were holding me awake, simply because I didn't want to get hit. They backed up, letting go of my arm, causing me to fall, from the weight on my broken ankle, and pointed their blasters at me. I pushed myself up on my hands, and leaned completely to my left side, taking the weight off of my ankle.

"I'm pretty sure I can find 3 more of those," I bluffed, lifting the only boulders that hadn't been broken.

The last 3 turned tail, ignited their jetpacks, and were gone as fast as possible. I sat down on a stray rock and leaned back against the wall of the destroyed building, my head throbbing in rhythm with my ankle.

"As sensitive as you've gotten, that was the most sloppy work ever." Shomari snickered walking up to me.

"You overheard that?" I asked, looking at Shomari's unsympathetic face. Hell, he even looked ready to laugh.

"You two aren't very quiet, as much as you're supposed to be in hiding. The bounty hunter probably landed and heard you two talking as they were walking around." Shomari said.

"They came in from the side of an underground hut Shomari. How'd they know where we were?" I asked.

"I don't know, but I guarantee that is wasn't me or Trance. I think someone else found out and is selling information on where you and Raena are hiding." Shomari said.

"You've been watching us carefully." I snorted back. "Who?"

"The 'who' most likely refers to a group, because I've noticed a rotation of 3 different people watching you and Raena all this week. So it's very recent at least." He answered moving over in front of me. He placed his hands gently on my injured ankle.

"I would've sensed them. I've constantly been looking for threats," I started.

"No, you wouldn't sense this unless you knew where to look. You see, there's a space station a few light years from here," he absolved my oversight simply. "And they have special probes that work well outside the range of the Hutts' scouts, but can see within 3 kilometers of the surface."

"And how'd they know where we were staying at?" I asked.

"It was a simple matter of finding any hint that you two are Jedi and then just tracking you until you disappeared. From there, they figured it was a 'smash and grab'." Shomari laughed ironically. "They seem to have gotten to the 'smash' part down to a art form."

"We should move before they learn to grab." I said worriedly as Shomari gathered the Force to himself and let it flow around my broken bone.

"I figured you'd welcome the excitement, but you seem to have gotten sloppy." Shomari criticized. "Of course you can't really practice in that cramped hideout can you?"

"Shomari, you have any ideas where we could go?" Raena said, somehow, suddenly ending up next to my younger brother.

"Couldn't tell you. The Hutts seem to favor smugglers with offers however. If you can get your hands on anything rare, or worth betting, you might have some luck." Shomari said standing up, after finishing healing my ankle the best he could. "As for me, I've got a few bets to place my self."

"You shouldn't be gambling Shomari," Raena sounded scandalized.

"Calm down, I'm not." He chuckled. "Good luck you two."

"Thanks," I said standing up gingerly on my injured appendage.

"I thought you did great," Raena whispered to me as Shomari retreated.

"Yoda help me if I'm ever bad enough to make you think I'm sloppy," I said bitterly.

"Don't get angry with me cause your brother makes you feel bad," she walked off briskly.

"It's because I know he's right," I said to myself limping after her. "There's no way all those bounty hunters should have such an easy time getting their hands on me."


	3. A Misguided Offering

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"It's because I know he's right," I said to myself limping after her. "There's no way all those bounty hunters should have such an easy time getting their hands on me."

Raena and I were wandering the marketplace together in thought. Since we were hiding from the Federation, we'd brought a few bare essentials only. Now to find some kind of offering for the Hutts seemed to be a foolish and impossible quest and the aimless walking was starting to become a nuisance. I blindly followed Raena, who seemed fascinated by most the different items in the marketplace, and quieted my mind; reaching into myself I took a hold of the living Force and began to let it flow through my body. I let my thoughts wander into Raena's mind, and I curiously listened to her thoughts.

"_This is fascinating…but it's still seems commonplace. To offer that would be insulting. I need to find something from another planet. I bet the Hutts would love a light saber's crystal…" _Raena's mind was focused, yet it wandered carefully.

"Raena," I said suddenly getting an idea from her mind. "I have the crystal old from my old light saber. When I built a new one, I needed a bigger crystal, plus I needed 2 different colors."

"You think the Hutts would like that?" Raena asked, excitement showing in her face.

"Do you?" I winked with a smile. I reached into an inside pocket of my Jedi cloak and withdrew a clear crystal that nearly resembled a diamond, except for the fact it was the wrong shape and much larger than any diamond ever seen or theorized about.

"Yes! Déshawn you read my mind!" She squealed happily.

"Let's head up there now," I said playing off of her happiness.

The story of the intimidating size of the Hutts were widespread, numerous, and almost a thing of legend among the easily impressed natives of Tatooine. However, as I looked up into the disgusting face of Jabba the Hutt, I couldn't help but understand where they were getting the stories. Far from instilling fear in me, however, Jabba's size simply revolted me at the thought of how much lard there must be on the planet considering there was a whole family of Hutts.

"I hear," his loud, echoing voice broke the silence. "From my guards that you two have a gift for me."

"This is true," I stepped a half step forward and reached into an inside pocket on my cloak, causing unrest in several of the guards who feared Jedi's for some reason. "If your guards would calm down, I could present a gift you can only get from a Jedi."

He yelled at them in his native language, causing them to scamper from the room. He then turned back to me and looked at me with greedy expectancy. I pulled out my old light saber crystal, and he looked as if he would jump out of his seat; that is if his size would permit it.

"Ooh," he intoned in amazement.

"This is a crystal used by Jedi to power their light sabers," I explained, levitating it with the force. "This very crystal was used by myself, before we were forced to flee here."

"Ah," he said understanding finally. "You wish for me to hide you."

"It would be greatly appreciated," Raena's voice came from next to me, and I realized she'd moved up also.

"Hmm," he seemed to be in thought, as I let the valuable and rare crystal float in front of him. "This is for a Jedi's weapon, why would I use this?"

I smirked at his attempts to raise the price, but I was expecting this. I simply walked over to the door where is guards had left the room and drew my light saber. I ignited the deep blue side of the blade and stabbed it through the door, earning a roar of anger from Jabba behind me. I heard shouts of panic from the security on the other side, which came bursting into the room as soon as I'd removed my light saber from the door. However, I put up a wall of force to stop their progress.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jabba roared at me.

"Now imagine that I was on the other side of that door, and trying to kill you," I continued ignoring the protests that now seemed to be coming from all around me. "If you were to use this crystal to power an internal shield in the door, it would make the door impenetrable to a light saber. And a Jedi cannot manipulate a shield made by one of these crystals through the Force."

"Interesting, but could you set this up for me?" Jabba questioned, suddenly over his rage.

"My apologies," I bowed my head as if I really was sorry. "But I'm afraid that extends beyond my limited capabilities. I'm sure that you have access to some of the more clever engineers in the galaxy however. You should have no problem getting it set up."

"Agreed," Jabba finally relented, reaching for the crystal in front of his face.

"Now," I plodded on, pulling the crystal back to myself. "About hiding Raena and I?"

Raena and I were now sitting in the back of a small transport on our way to the outskirts of the city. Raena hadn't really wanted to go to the edge of town, because most of the farms with slaves were lined up around the perimeter of town. I understood her sympathy, but I knew that Jabba's resources were solid: it was the safest place to hide until Trance and Shomari contacted us. They dropped us off right in the middle of the street and pointed us towards our new residency. Raena and I grabbed our two bags and headed into the new house. The "neighborhood", if it could be considered that, was groups of houses set deep into a large pit in the ground. There were about 15 houses to a single pit that had arching walls to provide shade from the two intense suns that scorched the planet's surface. We walked into the slightly furnished house, to find it had about 4 rooms. Straight ahead of the door was a small kitchen. It held a gas stove, with a sink to the left, and a small refrigerator across from the stove. To the left of the entrance was a door that led to the only bedroom. The bedroom held a bed, a single, 4-drawer dresser, and a small closet. To the right of the entrance was a small dining room with only a single, 4-seat kitchen table in the middle of the room. The fourth room, which also happened to be the first room you entered in the house, I assumed to be the living room. As it was the largest room, and was completely empty, except for a couch in the middle of the room, which faced towards the door of the house.

"Well," I shrugged walking in and heading towards the bedroom. "You get what you pay for."

"He's never, nor will he ever again, see a crystal like that. We should be living in one of his huge mansions here." Raena complained following me into the bedroom and dumping her bag next to mine.

"Nah," I disagreed. "I don't like the idea of all the attention that would be drawn if 2 Jedi walked out of a palace-like house owned by a known hater of Jedi. We'd seem like assassins or something."

"Let's get outta here," Raena shivered nervously. "This small space is making me feel claustrophobic."

"Since when have you been claustrophobic?" I raised an eyebrow as we both stood in front of our temporary residence.

"Ever since we walked in there." Raena sat down and hugged her knees to herself.

"You sure it's nothing else?" I stayed standing.

"Well, not really. It's the same feeling I got around that Hutt. Sort of like something was after me." Raena said nervously.

I closed my eyes for a second and let my mind wander into Raena's as I tried to feel the same thing she was. Instead of the chills she was getting, I felt my body get warm, which was always a warning sign of danger.

"Raena, you know the first thing we learn is how to sense for danger; immediate, incoming, and future danger we all sense differently." I started, my eyes on the sky. "The main thing we're taught is that everyone gets their warnings differently. I feel danger as flashes of heat, difference in intensity and duration tell me what I need to know."

"Where are you going with this?" Raena looked at me as if I was rambling.

"Well, I think you're sensing incoming danger," I said.

"And this danger is?" she said.

"Jabba sold us out," I said gripping the handle of my light saber looking at the walls of the pit.

Raena followed my eyes and saw that I was simply staring at the shade-generating walls of the pit.

"Déshawn what are you talking about?" She said standing up.

Suddenly the door that led to the stairway to the surface at normal ground level was shut and sealed with a ray shield. Then, the garage, opposite the doorway to the stairs, which allowed different transports to drive down into the crater followed suit.

"Someone is sealing us in here so we can't run." I said nervously.

"It better not be more bounty hunters," Raena said. "I have a new type of light saber I've wanted to try out. And they would be perfect to try it out on."

"Oh?" I said suddenly curious.

"Deuce inspired me for the idea. But when you renovated your own light saber, I decided to go through with it." Raena smiled.

"Well then," a deep voice boomed from on top of the high walls. "I guess, young Jedi, it's time to show it."

"Who the-?" I said squinting trying to see our opponent.

"It's a Sith," Raena said drawing and igniting her standard pink light saber. "Who else would take on 2 Jedi alone and not want them to get away?"  
"Anybody who decided life was too much to deal with." I laughed.

The, assumed, Sith jumped from the wall and landed on the nearest house. He leaped off of roof and hit the side of the nearest house. He expertly slid down the side of the house for a while until he bounced off of it again and landed on the roof of a lower, nearby house. He leapt from this roof onto the other nearby roofs, in a sort of complicated stair step pattern, until he reached the ground. As he flipped off of the last house and landed in front of us, he ignited his red light saber. I extended my own blue blade and prepared for battle. He stepped in powerfully taking a horizontal swing at my head. Instead of blocking it and allowing him to start a flow of attack, I ducked it neatly, and jabbed at his ribs quickly, before flipping away. Raena sliced at his chest, which he blocked with a counteracting rotation of his light saber, knocking it away. However, having predicted this, Raena had already pulled her blade away, causing him to overextend his defense. She spun easily, and took a low attack angle at his front leg. He lifted it up, and kicked her in the face. I landed behind him immediately, giving him no rest, and aimed a blow for his throat. He ducked and spun around countering with a high attack. His strike came as a slightly angled overhead swing, but the manner with which he struck at me indicated a trap. I blocked it cautiously; doing my best not to put too much into the defense, and immediately saw his plan. The bottom of his light saber suddenly ignited in a brilliant red also, and he brought the newly revealed blade in an uppercut fashion towards my torso. I moved my blue blade down quickly slapping away his tricky maneuver and backflipped away from him. Raena and I were now on completely opposite sides of the Sith, the two of us watching his movements carefully. I suddenly saw our mistake, a double-sided blade was easier to use if your opponents were on opposite sides, because the blades pointed away from each other. Deciding to make it harder on him, I flipped over him and we clashed blades. Raena saw her opportunity and swung at his open ribs. He pushed me away with a wall of Force, throwing me against the side of a house, and blocked her attack. I slid to the ground, my legs crumpling painfully. I struggled to get up as I watched Raena burn herself out trying to defend herself. I realized her mistake, she wasn't good at defenses, and she needed to find a way to start attacking. Remembering back to when I was sparring her, I know she could conserve her energy better if she was on the offensive.

"_Raena, attack him!"_ I said in her mind.

She probably thought I needed some type of distraction, but she immediately performed another brilliant maneuver to get on the offensive. As he pressed his powerful attack, she used a Force boosted jump to leap onto the side of a small house. As he struck upwards at her, she used her higher ground to pin his blade against the house. Using her light saber pressing down on his as a base, she flipped forwards landing her feet on his face. The two of them rolled towards the ground and she luanched herself off of him and landed beautifully before they hit the ground. She struck immediately at his downed figure, and he rolled, getting to his feet just as she followed up. I watched in amazement, despite my agonized spine, as she pursued the fluid motions she called an offensive. It looked so much like my mother I was momentarily hypnotized. However, I pulled myself away from her continuing unrelenting strikes to force myself to my feet. I moved into the battle carefully and watched for an opening to attack, but I was unwilling to be the cause of Raena's pause or hesitation. She looked so confident that a smile played on her soft lips as her light saber struck as his oddly exposed stomach. How had she managed to get him that open? She jabbed playfully at his chest, but spun around ducking, as he retaliated with a defensive strike, and ended up behind him. He leaped into the air; I saw this as a chance to get back into the battle and followed him. We landed on a lower house than the one Raena had got onto, and started our own intense battle. I felt Raena's eyes on me as I started a more aggressive attack pattern than her own. I moved my blade in swift dangerous circles, picking different points in the circle to attack from. I would slice at his neck, then spin and cut at his knee. Sometimes I would follow an attack with an identical one to keep him guessing. He finally decided that I was coming in to fast, or strong, and flipped back off of the building into Raena's grasp. I swore I heard her giggle as she moved in smoothly slicing at his chest. She pulled her attack back suddenly as he leaned away avoiding his own overextension, and came in with a jab that forced him to move to the side. She rotated away from the direction he moved, and came with a spin that counteracted his own movement, causing the two to meet. She used a sort of backwards slice to force him into raising his light saber again finally. Taking this opportunity, she kicked him in the chest causing him to be thrown into the air. He landed on top of a house a few feet away from me. I launched myself after him immediately, and he blocked my initial attack from his back. I felt my arms binded by the will of the Dark side of the Force as he hopped back onto his feet. I was released as soon as he stabbed at my chest, and reacted by ducking as low as I could, and swept his feet out from under him putting him on his back again. This time, Raena's blade met his, as I too pressed down on the weakening figure. He took one hand off of his light saber, and I felt the hatred in him grow suddenly. My eyes got wide as I sensed an attack, but I couldn't move fast enough and Raena and I were suddenly thrown back by a powerful storm of Force Lightning. My light saber was retracted as I dropped it in pain. The bolt of hatred flowed through my being painfully burning my insides. I held my two hands up, trying to summon a wall of protection, but I couldn't focus through the pain. Finally, after what seemed to be hours, he stopped so that he could advance on us. He held his hand out, and I felt a gust toss Raena and me through the air. I crashed through the ceiling of a house, and landed in a small bedroom. I got up painfully, my back arguing with every movement I made. I stood up and looked around, my light saber fell from the tangles of my cloak. I caught it before it hit the ground, and hooked it to my clip. I saw a small boy standing by his window, eyes full of fear. He looked at me, innocence shone behind the terror alight in his pupils.

"Can you stop him from killing everyone?" He asked worriedly.

"I…don't know. I can barely move." I answered honestly.

"It looked like you were winning before," he seemed to plead.

"I'll do my best. Just stay inside, I think he's here for me." I told the frightened child.

"JEDI!" I heard the Sith yell from outside. I assumed that Raena was nowhere to be found. Knowing her, I was sure she would stay that way until she was ready. "WE'RE NOT THROUGH YET!"

I took a deep breath and looked outside. He'd taken his cloak off, revealing his features for the first time. He was a human, about 30 years old; he had no hair on his head, and had orange pupils that seemed to shine with hate. I felt a chill run up my spine, as I leaped out of the window to face him once again.

"How did you find us?" I questioned drawing my light saber.


	4. The Refund

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"WE'RE NOT THROUGH YET!"

I took a deep breath and looked outside. He'd taken his cloak off, revealing his features for the first time. He was a human, about 30 years old; he had no hair on his head, and had orange pupils that seemed to shine with hate. I felt a chill run up my spine, as I leaped out of the window to face him once again.

"How did you find us?" I questioned drawing my light saber.

"It wasn't hard," he smirked. "The Hutts love someone willing to kill Jedi as much as they hate Jedi's themselves."

"Well," I said in a resigned tone. "I've got a payment to get refunded."

"He's already got it in use," he laughed.

"That only makes it a little trickier." I shrugged.

"I think that's the least of your worries," he spun his light saber around and held it in front of him in an attack position.

I leaped into the air and landed in front of him. We clashed light sabers as both of us pushed against each other with all of our strength in an attempt to try and flatten the other. Suddenly, I felt a flash of heat on my neck, as I realized it was in danger. Not knowing what was coming, I ducked instinctively. A split second later I see a pink blade slice above me, missing the Sith who'd managed to flip away in time. I stand up in amazement, wondering where she'd come from. We both turn towards our enemy as he finished flipping onto his feet. We both moved in simultaneously and the battle ensued intensely. The Sith combated Raena and I expertly, and I was astonished to see how fast he could move against two Jedi. Between my intense offensive and Raena's unrelenting attacks, that seemed, in truth, more like a planned pattern, his blades flashed back and forth so quickly that they seemed to be a wide shield he spun back and forth between us. I myself was sure he would give himself whiplash as fast as he turned his head back and forth to watch us. Several times, he managed to even make Raena and I clash blades, as he would duck away from simultaneous attacks and back up to catch his breath. I moved in frustrated at his impenetrable defense with a wide swing that he intercepted, smacking it away quickly. Raena landed behind him and he turned around quickly attacking her, pressing his attack on her. He seemed to learn that she had to be on the defensive, or he would have no chance against her perfected offensive techniques. He decided to take initiative and isolate her from me. I ran after them, but had to stop every few seconds as he would spin around and flash his blade in front of my face dangerously. I watched as Raena ducked another attack. This time she had a plan to get back to her comfortable fighting style. As she rose up from her duck, she preluded her head with her light saber and cut his own double blade in half leaving him with one working blade. Seeing my chance I moved in viciously, eager to get into battle and help Raena. I swung high at his head from the right side. As soon as he went to block it, I pulled back my blade and extended the red side of my light saber, using it to get a jump on him as I swung for his lower leg. He wasn't ready, as my initial strike was far more convincing than his, but he still managed to deflect my attack enough to only singe his leg. However, he winced in pain, giving Raena a window open enough to slice his head neatly off of his body. His corpse, still standing, leaned over and fell to the ground. I heard an applause rise up from the tenants watching from their windows. I felt great joy to see the little boy, whose room I'd landed in, walk out of his house first as everyone filed out to thank and congratulate the pair of us. Someone unlocked the two doors that had been sealed to keep us in. As the two of us clipped our light sabers back I turned to Raena and kissed her deeply.

"Now," I said to her. "We got to go get my wasted crystal back."

"Excuse me," Raena shouted to the crowd-turned-admirers. "We need transportation back to the Hutts."

"I can give you a lift," an older looking man told us. "It won't cost a thing, no strings attached."

I walked up to the dor cautiously as I heard screams of pain and swooshes of a light saber behind me. I ignited my own light saber, the red side this time as a sort of omen of my plans to come, and shoved it gingerly into the door. As I'd expected, from the Sith's words earlier, it didn't go through. I was repelled a few steps backwards. I frowned in frustrations as I heard Raena's killing of the guards stop. She joined me by my side and looked at the small hole in the door.

"No dice?" she asked.

"He clearly knew I would come back for him." I answered.

Immersing my mind in the Force, I search for the crystal I'd made a sort of bond with, from my use of it in my old light saber. Finding my answer I turned to the side and stabbed my blade into the wall to the left of us, and cut a large hole into it. We stepped through it, and I felt a wave of relief as I saw the crystal in a large containment jar in the middle of the room. The green glass made the clear crystal look like an emerald as it floated in the middle of the room, held up by the many electric strands attached to it. I figured that the glass was protected by the crystals power itself also and turned to the seemingly endless number of consoles. Raena walked around me and began to scan the buttons, switches, and levers. Deciding on one finally she put her hands on the lever and turned to me.

"This one," she said.

"You sure?" I asked.

"I read Hutt Déshawn." She smiled. "I just don't speak or translate it."

"Pull it," I answered confident in her abilities.

The jar began to rise from out of the floor and I suddenly felt a flash of heat in my lungs and nose.

"Hold your breath," I said taking a deep breath.

Immediately after we held our breath a gas from the defense system began to pour out of the ventilation shafts. I heard an alarm go off somewhere in the room Jabba was in. I pulled the crystal free of the electric bindings with the Force and leaped out of the room joining Raena in front of the, now defenseless, door to Jabba's room. I let out my breath taking in much needed oxygen from the atmosphere as I prepared to face the feared Hutt and all of his guards. Raena plunged her blade into the door and cut a hole for us into the room. We swiftly moved into the room as the alarmed guards moved in to stop our progress. I ducked under the dangerous point of an electro staff. I felt a flash of heat on my back, and did a back flip dodging my rear attacker. I kicked him in the back, causing him to clumsily plunge his own electro staff into the first guard that attacked me. I grabbed the second guard by the head and slammed his face into a wall immediately knocking him out. Then I pulled the electro staff out of the first incapcitated, guard and faced off with another two guards. I saw Raena easily cut her way through all of her foes and turn to look at my progress. I spun the spear deftly on my hand and slapped the nearest guard across the face, viciously twisting his head to the side. I followed up with a rotation of my own body, jabbing the side into his jaw. I ducked under a swing from his partner, and leaned back avoiding the second slice. I blocked, what would soon become, his last attack. As fighting off my staff distracted him, I drew my light saber to my free hand with the Force, and ignited the red blade neatly cutting my opponent from his lower right waist to the left side of his neck. I dropped my commandeered electro spear on top of the broken guard and put my light saber back onto my clip. Then I advanced on Jabba violently, who looked horrified at our arrival. It seemed, that had he the athletic body we possessed, he would have ran for his life.

"How many did you tell about us?" I yelled in as intimidating voice as I could muster.

"What are you talking about?" the fear in his voice was apparent. But I sensed his surprise at our survival.

"Give it up Jabba," Raena said in a calmer voice. "Your Sith gave you up. I guess he thought he could win."

"What Sith? I've sent no Sith." I felt a plot in Jabba's mind. But I was unsure of what was coming.

"You know," I said looking at my feet for any sign of a trapdoor. "You probably thought he would be successful."

"I said I would hide you, why would I give you up?" Jabba defended himself.

I saw his hands sliding around slightly as if a blind man were searching for a light switch, and I sensed incoming danger from below us. Then I felt the ground rumble and leaped to the side. I'm guessing that Raena felt it too, as she matched my movements and we leaped to opposite sides of the pit avoding falling prey to one of the monsters he's been known to feed his subjects to. Looking down into the hole I saw that there was nothing but a dirt ground in the hole. I couldn't see the monster we would have had to fight. I looked back at Jabba's surprised face and almost laughed, none of the people he'd thrown into the trap could sense impending danger. I felt a flash of heat on my side and reacted by flipping over the charging guard. He missed his attempt to push me in and began to fall himself; but his hand reached out and he got lucky in his attempt to pull me into the hole with him. We landed in a tangle, with me hitting him as much as possible until our contact broke us apart.

"Déshawn!" Raena screamed. I looked up to see her hanging off of the edge of the hole having barely avoided the guard sent to push her.

"Hang on!" I pulled the Force from within my being and pushed it out of my hands.

The resulting wave pushed Raena back onto the floor above me and she decapitated the guard during her rise. "I'll be there in a second."

I leaped onto my feet and drew the red blade on my light saber and held it out to the squirming guard, who had been trying to recover from the pain in his back, and my blows to his gut. I put the tip of the blade in front of his throat and looked around the room. The walls were smooth steel, no way to climb it, and were circular. It was about 20 feet across and 10 feet from the large, garage like door to the wall across from it. From the small size of the room, I hoped whatever attacked from behind the big door was not to big itself. I felt a flash of heat on my arm and leaped back instinctively. I saw a small dog-like alien leap from the ceiling and pounce on the downed guard. I felt grateful I had pulled my arm back as it surely would have gone with the "dog's" first victim. I held my blade out to it and circled it carefully as it watched me intently. The animal was red, it had fur that seemed to be made out of steel, and the eyes almost glowed blue. By the way it had hit the first guard, I could tell it was powerful, and as quick as Deuce's light saber movements. I held my arm out extended at the dog as it circled me also. Suddenly I felt a flash of heat on my face. Instead of ducking, as I should have, I raised my blade to block the dog's attack in hopes of cutting it open in using my light saber to defend myself. However, it hadn't leaped at me, instead it spit out some kind of vile, mucus colored, liquid at my eyes. Most of the saliva was dissolved by the fatal red glow from my light saber bldae, by some of it splashed onto the right side of my face. It was acidic and burned my cheek and eyes. I yelled in pain as I hurriedly wiped as much as I could off with the sleeve of my robes.

"It got my eye!" I shouted to Raena.

My vision darkened in my right eye, and intelligently, the dog circled towards my blind spot. This time, it leaped at me directly, as soon as it was outside of my vision range. I felt a heavy impact as I was toppled and looked up to see the dog biting at me. I rolled as far as I could under it, causing its initial bite to miss. I kneed it's back leg joint, generating a loud snapping sound followed by a pained yelp, and slid out from under the dog. I summoned my light saber to my hand with the Force and re-ignited it, and faced the dog. It limped towards me, this time it spit another round of acid at me, and I ducked it smartly this time. The dog kept up this rapid fire of acid at me until I was forced to stop one round with the Force. I pushed it back at the dog hitting it in the face, but it kept going seemingly immune to it's own devices. I sent another wall of Force at the dog sending it against the wall of our makeshift arena, knocking it out. I flipped into the air and landed next to the dog, plunging my light saber into its ribs. Yanking it out the side, I decapitated the dangerous creature quickly, and turned my good eye back to the hole thinking of how to get up to Raena.

"Raena, I think I'm stuck," I confided.

"Hang on," she answered me, and turned disappearing.

I heard a light saber ignite and the dangerously quiet voice of Raena talking to a frightened Jabba. I heard him say something but I couldn't make out any of the words. Then her head reappeared with a smile and she pointed towards the door.

"Just follow the hallway out there, it circles around back to the door we came through to get into here." Raena said.

"Be careful, he may have some more doors in that floor." I advised Raena.

Turning to the door from where I thought my attacker would come, I advanced on it cautiously and put my hand on it. I sent out a probing wave of Force through the door and sensed about four guards behind the door. I smiled; Jabba thought they could kill me, so he set up a little trap. I ignited my light saber and dug into the steel of the door, cutting a hole open and kicked it in as hard as I could. The chunk of metal slammed into one of the security officers and pinned him to the wall. I walked through the hole, deactivating my light saber and putting it onto my belt, and waved my hand letting yet another solid wall of Force from my being. The remaining three guards were knocked out immediately. I took a deep breath as I was starting to feel fatigued from the large amount of Force I'd just used in such a small time, and began to run up the hallway.

I finally stopped, panting from a lack of breath, and wiped the intense sweat from my forehead. I deactivated my thoroughly used light saber, and clipped it onto my belt. Walking into the room, Raena rushed to my side seeing my distressed state.

"Déshawn what happened?" she asked in a shocked voice.

"I'll give you one thing Jabba, you are very good." I said discarding more sweat from my forehead. "You definitely had me working back there."

"What?" Jabba acted innocent, but I could sense his satisfaction.

"Raena, I had to cut through this huge room," I started to explain. "And it had, what must have been, every monster he owns."

"I applaud your surviving," Jabba laughed. "But there is a hall that goes around it."

"A little notice would have been nice," I responded annoyed. "You know, like a notice that you planned on sending a Sith after us to keep us on our toes."

"I sent no Sith after you," he denied again. I could sense his lies however and refused to believe him. "My transport operators are the only other ones who knew where you two were, you probably should talk to them."

"Stop lying," Raena waved her hand in front of Jabba's face with a sly look in her eye.

"He offered to kill you two," Jabba's eyes suddenly glazed. "I simply had to agree to a low price."

My mind was suddenly overwhelmed at a new presence. It radiated pure power, wrathful revenge, and hatred. However, amongst the sickenin power and emotion I felt an unexpected sensation: one of pain. It was then that I realized the frightening truth. I swayed on the spot as my head spun, causing Raena to notice my state.

"Déshawn?" she walked next to me, leaving Jabba in a silence.

"We have to leave," I said slowly. "We're in danger."

"In danger?" she didn't sound as worried as I thought our situation deemed.

"The Master," my voice was not my own. It sounded hazy to my own ears, "mourns his Apprentice."


	5. A Violent Wake

----------------------

"Déshawn?" she walked next to me, leaving Jabba in a silence.

"We have to leave," I said slowly. "We're in danger."

"In danger?" she didn't sound as worried as I thought our situation deemed.

"The Master," my voice was not my own. It sounded hazy to my own ears, "mourns his Apprentice."

"Then we must go," Raena said turning to leave, but stopping when I didn't move. "Now."

I glared a Jabba, reaching out with the Force I took a hold of his mind. Waving my hand I spoke a suggestion to the, now, hypnotized Hutt.

"We never spoke to you," I said before joining Raena in her flight.

We ran quickly, both of us boosting our speed with the Force, and reached the door out of Jabba's quarters quickly. We burst out of the doors but stopped in a sick horror when we realized the farmer that had driven us here, was dead. His was lolled back on the headrest of his speeder. Blood dripping out of the corner of his mouth, a sure sign of internal injuries, and he seemed to have lost weight. I shuddered at the sick stench of his corpse and fresh blood, and gingerly walked up to his corpse. Raena was trailing, unwillingly, behind me, and I felt an intense urgency rolling off of her in waves.

"He's near Déshawn," she said. "We have to move on."

"I must know something," I answered her stubbornly.

I held my hand out, gathering the Force within my body, and coated my hand in a Force-sensitive glove. I laid it on his forehead and read his last thoughts. I was confronted with a mural of intense pain, despair, fear, and anger. _I felt my stomach lurch in horror as I saw a shrouded figure in front of me, with a shriveled hand extended towards me. I felt my stomach and chest collapsing inwards as an invisible force crushed my body. The same force wrapped around my sides and reached to my back, pressing in as easily as a drunken patron at a bar would a soda can. I was suffocating as my lungs were closed up_…I took my hand off of his forehead and stepped back gasping for air from the intense vision.

"Oh my god," I gasped, sucking in as much air as I could.

"What?" Raena sounded concerned.

"His death, it was horrible." I gathered myself, mentally releasing my nausea. "You're right we must go."

"That's pretty pointless now," Raena hung her head.

I hesitated, "you're the one that said we had to leave."

"Look as his blood," Raena gestured towards the crushed man. I avoided turning my eyes from her. "It's fresh, he's too near for us to run since you stopped. We'll have to fight him."

"Quite right you are, young Jedi." A hoarse voice cackled from behind us.

I spun quickly, drawing my light saber without igniting it, and scanned the area when I don't immediately see the source of the sound. Suddenly I sense a wave of immense Dark power. I look up to the origin and spot my target. He was a tall figure, about 6' 4", and shrouded completely in a cloak that only revealed his burning orange eyes. He flipped from the roof and landed across from us, on the opposite side of the speeder. He waved his hand, and I felt another sickeningly powerful wave of Dark Force come crashing down on the speeder. I shielded my face from the spray of blood from the corpse, and looked at the scene before me. It was horrified by what I saw, and took several steps backwards. He'd crushed the speeder, with the man inside of it, until it was nearly flat enough to not even trip over. A twisted smirk curled onto his face and he walked over the speeder in a slow approach on Raena and I.

"_Deuce where are you?" _I mentally called out.

"_Arguing with a shop keeper, why?" _I thought I heard a tone of agitation.

"_Come to Hutt's," _I thought distressed.

"You know," Raena started. "You should really be angry with Jabba."

"Don't try to talk your way out of this Miss Colonya," the Sith Lord hissed still walking upon our retreating position.

"_Why?" _he persisted. _"I'm getting a very good price."_

"_You want to clean up our parts when this Sith Lord finishes with Raena and me?" _I responded sarcastically.

"_You had no problems with the Sith earlier."_ He waved off my plea.

"_What would you do if your apprentice was killed?"_ I followed up.

I felt our connection cut off and I took it to mean that Shomari was now rushing towards us at top speed. I stopped when our backs touched a wall, and found us cornered. The Sith Lord let out a hoarse and dry laugh, and he held out his hands, fingers pointed towards the pair of us. I felt a rise in his already formidable power and my eyes grew wide. I covered myself with my arms again, but found it to be a pointless defense. I yelled in agony as bolts of lightning ran through my body, frying my insides, and I was lifted into the air. He threw me across the ground, and I hit hard sliding into a building. My entire body sizzled, and I saw smoke visibly rising off of my body, my head throbbing from where I hit the building. I started to push myself up shakily, but the Sith Lord seemed to have that in mind already as I was lifted into the air, helplessly and hung there.

"You should know better than to kill an apprentice of Darth Brogan." He hissed at me. I could sense the rage coursing through his veins, and I almost felt guilty for killing him, even though I know it was the only way.

With a slight turn of his palm, my body flew back into the building I'd just come from, and I was slammed into it again. This time, I fell face down, so I was able to catch myself, somewhat, in a push up position. I watched my blood drip onto the ground, as I painfully pushed myself onto my feet again. I saw that he'd already turned from me and was now going for Raena. My eyes got wide in horror as he raised his hands and began to electrocute her also. She screamed in bloodcurdling agony for several moments before he stopped to talk. I gathered the Force to myself, letting my anger and horror abate into the calming power, and drew myself up straight.

"Brogan!" I shouted in a menacing tone, which got my job of attracting his attention, done.

"That's **Darth** Brogan to you." He hissed turning from Raena and advancing on me in anger.

"We," I started ignoring Raena's frantic signaling behind him to stop. "Aren't finished."

He held his hands out, but this time I was ready. I gathered my powers into an absorbent shield just as he let loose another blast of electricity.

"NO!" Raena's screams were pointless.

I caught his powerful bolts of torture in both palms of my hands, and let them be absorbed by the Force and wasted forever. He increased his intensity and my eyes got wide as he began to shoot more lightning than I could absorb. The result was one bolt getting through and tossing me back into the building. I put my feet out, stopping my impact into the wall and jumped back off facing him again.

"You're tricks are nothing special." He laughed in a croaking and hoarse voice.

I cracked my knuckles in a determined fashion. "And your power is insignificant to me."

"Why you!" for once, his voice was strong and clear.

I waved my hands in a beckoning gesture, "let's try that again."

"Very well," his hands rose again.

"_Raena, get out of there!" _I heard Deuce's thoughts as he contacted Raena. I smiled; involuntarily hearing his telepathic messages meant he was close.

He threw out a huge spark of lightning, the biggest one he'd thrown at me yet, and I caught it in the same manner as before. He yelled in a rage as he gave it as much as he possibly could. However, I simply continued to draw on the Force and gave my shield more power, and soon he had burned himself out. He stopped, and I closed my hands around the last bolts of his electricity, holding them there for a second, then pushed my hands back out at him, and returned his own lightning to him. Unprepared for such a counter attack, he was hit and flew backwards into the wall crashing down in a heap. I noticed Raena finally nod and get to her feet shakily. I rushed over to her and held my hand out. She took it, and I let a healing flow of Force run from me into her as she finally stood up to her full height.

"Déshawn," she started in a guilty voice.

"Go," I cut her off. "I'll be fine."

"But…"

"I love you," I put my finger to her lips silencing her one last time. "I'll come get you as soon as me and Deuce are finished here."

She grabbed my hand, taking my finger from her lips, and kissed me passionately for several moments, until I heard the sinister cackles of Darth Brogan recovering from my blow.

"Hurry," she almost whispered as she ran off, disappearing easily.

Darth Brogan flipped from the hole he'd been tossed into and landed behind me. I turned to find him standing extremely close to me. I felt uncomfortable for I wasn't sure how fast he could move and my reflexes, though very quick, weren't likely to save me from much. Then he drew his light saber and held it out to me. I took a few steps back, and ignited my own blue light saber blade.

"Well, young Jedi. It seems that we have reached a draw in our battle of powers." He taunted. "You are brave though, for no Jedi has ever crossed light sabers with me."

"Then you have yet to meet a true Jedi." I answered in a measured voice. The back of my mind screamed doubt however; as I was pretty sure he could have killed me before if he wasn't so intent on playing with me.

He moved in powerfully, he wasn't extremely fast, but his heavy blows were hard to recover from. I blocked the overhead strike, and fell to the ground from the force. I rolled as his blade pierced the ground where my head used to be. I leapt to my feet deftly and ducked under his angered swing, and flipped backwards. He started to rush in aggressively again, but he paused when a figure in a black cloak slid to a stop between us. I smirked as Shomari ignited both of his light sabers, and shrugged his robe off of his shoulders. Darth Brogan immediately forgot his pause and moved in quickly at Shomari. He easily spun away, avoiding the powerful strike, but it seemed he was ready for this. As soon as I was in his clear pathway he flung out a wave of Force slamming me hard against a concrete wall, blurring my vision. Suddenly I felt a flash of heat move from my waist down. I couldn't move quick enough, my body being battered already, and I was pinned under the falling debris. I yelled in pain, as the large objects came clattering down on me. I felt a tingling sensation in my legs as the blood flow was cut off and my mind was numbed with pain. Through my hazy vision I saw Shomari engaged in intense combat with Darth Brogan, too preoccupied to provide me with any aid. I closed my eyes and meditated a moment, when I sensed a spike of pain from Shomari that snapped my eyes open. I saw Darth Brogan's light saber pushed through my younger brother's shoulder.

"NO!" I shouted in shock and anger, ignoring my own predicament.

Shomari's eyes got hazy from the pain, but he still managed to let off a wave of Force, that separated him painfully from Darth Brogan. He dropped both of his blades and fell to one knee, his left hand trying to stem the flow of blood. My fury grew exponentially as I lifted the tons of debris from my back, as easily as it had fell on top of me. I threw every chunk at Darth Brogan who easily dodged every piece. I light both sides of my light saber and came at Brogan powerfully. In the first few seconds of our combat, I quickly learned how Shomari had gotten so injured. Brogan had powerful movements that I would normally use to my advantage but it was almost impossible to get him off balance. In fact, the Sith Lord's movements were so quick; I found his defenses almost impenetrable. After several attempts on my part, I finally stopped before I wore myself out in my anger, and decided to fight with my mind as I'd learned to do. I stepped back, holding my light saber across my body in a defensive position. My mind freed itself from the limits of my body, and merged with the Force, making nearly any thought of my own a reality. I felt almost immortal in this state. Brogan seemed to sense this as his lips curled into a sneer, and he rushed in. I saw his stab at my throat a split second before it happened, and I leaned back prematurely dodging his blow miles ahead of it. I sliced at his waist as I was ducking his deadly swing, and he flipped over it, just barely keeping his body attached. I spun around slicing at his ankles a split second before he landed. He tried valiantly to avoid it, but he was too slow and lost one of his ankles in an agonizing yell. He roared, hopping on his only lower limb, and I tried to not grow sick from the sight of his amputated foot. He turned to me; his fiery orange eyes now tinted red, with a vengeful look, and threw a blast of lightning at me. I blocked it with my light saber, backing it with another Force shield until he grew finally stopped. I holstered my light saber and held out both hands to Darth Brogan. The Force flowed out of my palms in snake like waves, wrapping around his helpless form, tightening like ropes around his body. I lifted him into the air, and let him hang vulnerable as I walked around his body looking at my younger brother's painful face as he looked at me from down on his knees. I drew my light saber, red blade extending out slowly and I walked back around my opponent who I could feel mentally fighting off my bonds.

"Please, spare me." He began to beg. "I can grant you powers you've never dreamed of."

"You mean the ones I've just overcome?" I asked, looking over my light saber blade interestedly.

"You," he hesitated on his argument. "Are more powerful than me."

"Clearly," I heard Shomari's bitter laugh.

"You could use my teachings to rule the universe." He laughed.

"You know," I tossed my light saber into the air. "My mom told me I shouldn't take on excessive responsibility."

I caught the light saber and sliced through Darth Brogan's waist, severing his torso from his legs. I dropped his bloody corpse to the ground and holstered my weapon. Immediately I jogged over to Shomari and held out my hand to help him up.

"Still burns?" I asked.

"Mildly," he answered in a would-be steady voice.

"Hold still," I commanded. I held my hand out to his wound and let a calming flow of Force out as it healed the gaping wound. I stopped after a few moments satisfied with my work.

"Thanks," he said.

"I owe you." I responded, waving off his gratefulness.

"How so?" he raised an eyebrow.

"You kept me from losing Raena." I said.

"We're family," he responded. "You won't lose anything if I can help it."

Suddenly we both stopped, I felt a dim wave of heat pass through my entire body, warning of impending danger.

"Bounty hunters?" I growled frustrated.

"Most likely." He answered.

"This is definitely going to put a taint on my hopes of searching for clues about mom." My fists clenched.

"Don't worry," he patted my shoulder. "I'm on it."  
"I should be helping you!" I yelled.

"It's okay, Trance and Senator Amidala are still arguing your case in the senate."

"Trance is helping her?" I laughed. "He'll have the whole Federation after us soon."

"He's actually doing quite well," Shomari chuckled with me as he turned to leave me on my own against the mass of Bounty Hunters coming.

"_Raena, where are you?" _I telepathically called to her.

"_On my way back, are you okay?"_ she seemed worried.

"_Yes, but someone's going to have to sweep up Brogan,"_ I arrogantly responded.

"_There's bounty hunters on the way Déshawn," _Raena warned.

"_I know,"_ I calmly told her.

"_I mean, they're right behind me."_ She thought.

"_Ah, do they know it?"_ I thought back to her abilities.

"No," she told me, suddenly by my side.

"Then let's move quickly." I grabbed her arm and we were off.


	6. Negotiations

---------------------------

"_There's bounty hunters on the way Déshawn," _Raena warned mentally.

"_I know,"_ I calmly told her.

"_I mean, they're right behind me."_ She thought.

"_Ah, do they know it?"_ I thought back to her abilities.

"No," she told me, suddenly by my side.

"Then let's move quickly." I grabbed her arm and we were off.

We headed off into the thick crowd in the market, having been attracted by the commotion.

"Raena, got a trick up your sleeve?" I asked her as we dodged through the people, hand in hand, with the bounty hunters blindly on our back.

"Yes, give me a second to work it out. Hiding you will be hard with an illusion." She said breathlessly.

"Don't rush," I comforted her.

"Over here," she pulled me next to a vendor.

I watched as more projected images came from her mind, just as she'd done back on the Federation ship. I thought it ironic that the last time I'd seen her do it, it was right before we got ourselves into this mess. An image of Raena and I running continued on, only more obviously, while another store popped into view in front of us.

"Sit down and meditate," I told her. "It will help you hold her focus."

We both sat down, I closed my eyes releasing my anxious feelings as easily as drawing poisoned blood. I felt the Force fill my mind and body, giving me a floating feeling as if nothing was beyond my limits. However, I calmed the urge to act and protect Raena and I. I knew I would have to learn to stop being so unsure of her skills, and learn to rely on her some. _In fact,_ I thought, _I should trust her skills completely. She's never yet failed me._ I opened my eyes and saw a stream of bounty hunters running past our "stand" following "us" through the crowd.

"Let's go," I whispered to her.

"One second," she said.

I watched as our images "lost" them in the crowd, but they plunged on sure we'd be found again.

"Okay, where to?" she asked me, as our stand vanished.

"Roofs," I said. "Stay low. They'll have a bad angle on us from the ground."

We leapt onto the roofs easily and crouched low. We bounced across the roofs easily, unsure of where to go. I knew we'd have to leave the planet, we were being hunted every second on it, and I wanted a place where I could at least research my mothers method of death.

We finally grew too tired to continue running, so I stopped and let Raena rest her weary body. She literally flopped down on the spot, sweat soaked her clothes, and I noticed the abrasions on her beautiful face for the first time. I felt a twinge of guilt tug at my heart, I'd pushed her harder than I'd actually intended.

"I'm proud of you," I rubbed her face in a loving manner. "I love you."

"Thank you," she panted. "My love."

I stood up, Raena asleep at my feet. I welcomed the Force into my body and let my body emanate soothing Force to heal Raena. I watched as the bounty hunters soared off towards the ship that they'd come from and I decided to try my own illusion. I closed my eyes and let a shield of Force cover us. I focused on the texture, color, shade, and look of the roof we stood on, and projected it into my "shield". I opened my eyes, and smirked as they jet packed right past Raena and I. I sat down, legs folded under my body, in the universal Jedi meditative posture. I relaxed my mind until they were all gone, then I myself drifted off to sleep.

_She shook her beautiful hair as she threw her head back laughing. She had a lean but muscular build. Her face was smooth, and held wide brown eyes that radiated kindness and curiosity. Her laugh echoed through my mind as I sat playing with my mother in front of the T.V. Suddenly the wall exploded in and she screamed as soldiers, bearing emblems I couldn't recognize, tried to grab her. Her instinct soon took over and her light saber came out. In a few dangerous flashes she'd annihilated the 5 soldiers. I turned to Shomari with a face full of fear. We both gripped the handles of our practice sabers, and she shook her head with a tearful face._

"_This enemy is not yours to fight," she cried. "You two are to hide, until this is all over."_

"_Will you be back mommy?" Shomari's voice shook as if on the edge of sanity._

"_I can't promise you anything," my mother, Ayana Jackson, told us. She had never lied to us and she didn't intend to start in what might be her last moments. "I'll do everything in my limited power to come back for you."_

"_Mother," I stood up. I was 5, small for my age, but mature and already powerful in the Force. _

"_Déshawn, protect your little brother with your life. Both of you remember; use the Force to defend yourselves only. Understand?" She quickly instructed us as she turned to leave._

"_No please stay here with us. We need you." Shomari began to cry._

"_Deuce listen," I turned to Shomari. "She has to go make sure it's safe. Don't worry, even if she doesn't make it back, she'll make sure we're alright."_

"_No!" His voice suddenly turned to a tone of wrath. "I'll help you. I'm powerful enough!"_

"_Stop it Shomari," she scolded as gently as she could. "You're a child, you're not ready yet."_

"_I love you mommy," I hugged her neck for the last time._

"I love you both," she pulled Shomari into one last family hug. She quickly kissed the both of us on the cheek.

I sat up straight, the sunlight hitting me in the face warming my already hot body.

"Good morning," Raena smiled from above me.

"God I'm burning up," I realized I was in the same position as I'd fallen asleep in.

"Your trick worked," Raena dumped a bucket of ice cold water on me.

"Ah!" I jumped a little but soon welcomed it. "That feels great."

"Don't ask my sources," she pointedly told me.

"What sources?" I smirked raising an eyebrow.

"Where to?" she asked.

"Off of this planet." I stood up. "We're heading back to Coruscant."

"What?" she sounded surprised.

"Why not head back to where they're coming from?" I said. "It's easier to avoid them if we're sure of when they'll be here."

"Well," she bit her nail. "I trust your judgement."

"Thank you," I said walking up to her.

"Hey! You two!" I heard a sharp voice yell at us. It was a blue alien, flying on what looked to be frail wings as they were pounding furiously to keep his chunky form afloat. His nose resembled an amputated elephants, and his baldhead shone furiously under Tatooine's two suns. "What are you doing on my store?"

"Bounty hunters," I hopped off of his store's roof with a friendly tone.

"Ah…" he hummed in and understanding tone. "Always poking around my store for refugees. Such as…yourselves."

"Well then," Raena lands on the ground next to me. "I'm guessing you've had plenty of requests on where to find a ship off of this Force forsaken planet."

"I happen to have a nice space pod, came from Yavin IV." He paused as if to let the effect of his words sink in. "Very fast, very comfortable."

"But this won't be without pay or work that's for sure," I grinned walking past him into the store.

"This is true," the shopkeeper grinned. "You're very sharp for a Jedi."

"Most Jedi are more quick witted than they let on," I continued.

"Well, very wise of you to not hide your intelligence." He chuckled.

"So, how good of a deal are you willing to bargain for?" Raena smiled circling around behind him.

"Hmmm," he said. "My last experience with a Jedi has left my faith in them very rattled. You have only Federation credits this is true?"

"Unfortunately," I nodded slowly.

"I need money from around here," he said irritated. "The Federation is nothing out here."

"We had hoped so. It's why we choose to hide from them here," Raena told him understandingly.

"But, I have here," I approached behind his back making him whirl around nervously. "A gift lost even to Jabba the Hutt."

"Oh?" he sounded interested.

"Yes," Raena continued in my place, the shopkeeper whirling around once again. "The great Hutt saw this once, but we didn't find him worthy of it."

"Indeed," I picked up. "His assistance was trivial at best."

"Well, I can guarantee my help will be much more satisfactory," he said.

"And hopefully swift," Raena added.

"Now…what is this bargaining chip of yours?" He rubbed his hand together.

"You're a Toydarian," I finally figured out the alien's roots.

"Exactly, so don't try any mind tricks on me." He warned.

"A more effective approach is to let the mind fool itself," Raena said in a sagely voice.

I reached into the right inside pocket of my robes and extracted the light saber crystal while the Toydarian was looking at Raena.

"Now tell me," I spoke up. "Do you know what this is?"

"It's," he turned. "Some kind of crystal."

"Not just any kind of crystal my good friend." Raena said as we began to circle the shopkeeper. "Only an exceptional Jedi could get a crystal like this."

"This crystal," I began as Raena continued our path around the Toydarian, which had the effect of making him very nervous. "Is found in the core of every light saber. It is the heart of the weapon and no light saber could function without it."

"Ah," he said thoughtfully, no longer trying to track our movement.

"The uses this crystal could be put to, especially someone with your expertise are limitless," Raena stopped.

"Hmm, I could design a new pod racer with it." He voiced his plans.

I continued my circle around him until I was next to Raena again, "Well then, do we have a deal?"

"Hmm," he hummed. I let my mind wander near his and felt him trying to think of some way to raise the price.

"Or," Raena must have sensed it too, "we're sure Jabba would like to see it again."

"He probably misses having for a shield on his door." I added.

"Deal," he suddenly said cutting off all thoughts of taking it back to the Hutt.

"Wise choice my friend." I bowed slightly in thanks.

"What are your names?" the Toydarian asked. "I'm known as Watto."

"Déshawn 'Blazin' Jackson at your services," I held my hand out.

"Raena Colonya," she shook Watto's hand after me.

"The Jedi assassins," he breathed.

"Our business does not bring us here," I told him. "So much as it forced us here."

"I hear they've already found two dead Evil Jedi here." Watto countered. "I doubt you two can escape your business if you tried."

"Too true," I told him. "But you should feel sufficiently safe."

"Only you know where this ship of yours is. And the access code." Raena pointed out.

"Jedi can read minds can they not?" he sounded skeptical.

"I thought a Toydarian's mind could not be manipulated?" I let out a sly smile.

"Quite right you are." He said. "Well, I'll enjoy my security until the ship is in your hands."

"You are secure with us as long as we have no fear in your presence." Raena said.

"I'm a shopkeeper, how could two Jedi fear me?" he raised his hands defensively.

"Then I guess we've reached an agreement." I resolved. "We'll give you the opportunity to test our payment first."

"That's very kind of you," he said.

"We'll be back tomorrow to collect our goods," Raena said as we both swept out of the store.


	7. No Longer Hidden

-------------------

"Then I guess we've reached an agreement." I resolved. "We'll give you the opportunity to test our payment first."

"That's very kind of you," he said.

"We'll be back tomorrow to collect our goods," Raena said as we both swept out of the store.

"Wow, you've outdone yourself," Raena complimented as we entered the shop the next day.

Every doorway held a hazy blue aura, which indicated a weak shield generated from a single crystal being overused. I knew that a few powerful hits to it would break it down but it would definitely serve its purpose, as I doubted Tatooine held any bandits strong enough to break the shield. _Then again I didn't think a Sith and his master would personally hunt us down here. It seems the Federation has grown very comfortable with Sith Lords and they're technology. I've got to find out who's equipping these Droids._

"Thank you. It was easy after I had the materials." Watto bragged.

"Seems stretched a bit thin," I commented.

"Yes, I know. I'm having an amplifier put together as we speak," Watto waved off my observation.

"Now the access codes?" Raena pressed.

"Yes, here you go. Where it's at, and how to access the space pod." He laid a data pad in Raena's waiting hand.

"Then that concludes our business here," I bowed slightly to Watto in gratitude. "We'll be on our way."

"Good luck," Watto called as we left.

Outside of the store there seemed to be a mild commotion that caused the street to be crowded blocking our way. Wondering what was going on, I let my mind wander ahead of us I was slightly shocked at the desperate tactics now being taken to find Raena and I.

"They're passing our holo around," I told Raena's curious face as I lifted my hood over my face. "They hope someone will recognize us."

"Not likely," Raena shrouded her features as well. "These people here rarely give away criminals."

"There they are!" a brusque shout came from behind us. I froze in fear, but I didn't turn or move, as I hadn't felt any warnings to let me know the presence of danger.

"Wait, don't move," I told Raena who made to run.

The crowd surged past us towards a helpless couple shopping at a fruit stand. I had to admit, they did slightly resemble our visages but they're posture was completely unlike a Jedi. They scurried, more than ran, away from the mobbing crowd but were easily caught thanks to the jetpack-equipped bounty hunters. Three of them grabbed the helpless couple and tied their hands up quickly. I started towards the crowd with a determined stride.

"Wait here," I told her.

I roughly pushed my way into the center of the circle of onlookers, silencing them with merely my presence. I had to admit, the appearance of a hooded figure was probably unexpected but it had the appropriate affect for the situation. The crowd fell silenced, and the bounty hunters stopped to look at me.

"Tell me," I said in a strong voice. "Does anyone know the weapon of a Jedi?"

"Some kind of light sword!" a random bystander shouted.

"So," I paused and turned to face the bounty hunter. "What's a bounty hunters penalty for bringing in the wrong people to get paid for?"

"What are you getting at scum?" The head bounty hunter narrowed his eyes.

"Have you disarmed these 'Jedi'?" I questioned.

"We don't need to," a second bounty hunter interjected.

"Why not?" I raised an eyebrow. "A single Jedi is more dangerous open handed than the three of you fully locked and loaded."

"They're unarmed." He answered with a self-satisfied smirk.

"So you mean to tell me that these Jedi assassins are NOT carrying the only weapon they've had since they began their training?" I illustrated my point by explaining a fraction of Jedi teachings. "Jedi are taught that their light saber is the only self-defense they have. And, knowing the Trade Federation is after them, decided to NOT carry their only weapon?"

"You know," a little girl near the middle of the crowd, piped up. "You know a lot about Jedi's and their ways."

"This is true," I admitted. "I know a lot about a lot of things."

"Maybe you are a Jedi," The third bounty hunter dumbly concluded.

"Every Jedi is not the assassin you seek," I told him.

"But every Jedi is a suspect," the leader nodded to the other two bounty hunters letting them know to arrest me.

"Then this innocent couple is free to go?" I asked as they cautiously approached me.

"Let 'em out," he told the other two.

They turned and started to unlock the cuffs on their hands. At this exact moment, I turned and swiftly slipped back into the crowd amongst their mild applause for the good deed. I sensed for Raena and found her to be in a nearby alley. I turned down it and found her sitting down looking very bored. I grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet.

"Ah," she smirked. "The hero returns."

I couldn't help but smile myself, "where's our ship?"

I was leaning back in my chair next to Raena as she expertly piloted us towards Coruscant. I felt more relaxed then I had since that fateful mission from the Jedi Council. Raena, however, had an odd focused look on her face however that worried me, and it made me sit up and look at her.

"What?" She noticed me.

"Why do you look so worried?" I asked.

"Well," she started slowly as if she didn't want to hurt my feelings. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Why?" I asked leaning back when I realized it wasn't anything immediately dangerous.

"I keep having visions of a small droid army waiting for us as we land on top of the Jedi Temple." She explained.

"That doesn't sound like a serious problem." I shrugged. "You don't plan on landing on top of the Jedi Temple do you?"

"No, but I can't get rid of this feeling." She pressed.

"Then let's go somewhere else," I told her. "If you feel uncomfortable with it we shouldn't go through with it."  
"No," she said carefully again. "You said we would be fine, so…we'll go there."

"Raena," I sat up to face her again. "You shouldn't base your decisions solely on my judgement."  
"You think I'm right?" she raised an eyebrow.

"You probably are," I said. "Whether you are or not isn't the issue. It's your self-confidence that is."  
"Then what do you think?" she asked finally.

"Hmm," I closed my eyes and meditated for a few moments trying to sense our fate. A task I was never truly accomplished at as I usually only had to deal with real-time situations. Not future problems. "I was never really good at sensing the future. But I have faith in Trance and Senator Amidala."

"Then where should I put us down?" Raena asked with a trusting smile.

She brought us in quietly in a secluded landing pad that wasn't closely watched, or well known for that matter, and we slipped out of sleek space pod quickly.

"We need to find a library," I said.

"_Déshawn, what are you doing here?" _Trance thought in my mind.

"_We, kind of slipped up on Tatooine."_ I explained.

"_And you'll do better here?" _Trance scolded me.

"_Look we'll be fine," _I thought reassuringly. I could sense that he was distracted by the fact that he was in session with the Senate at the moment. _"Focus on your case."_

"_Well, while you're here. Do me a favor,"_ I felt his sudden impulse in my mind.

"_Anything,"_ I thought back.

"_This should be right up your current direction anyways." _I could almost see his devilish smirk. _"They want actual documentation of the Serum's effects."_

"_Other than mythology and our word and experience?"_ I reasoned.

"Déshawn?" Raena questioned my sudden quietness.

"Yes?" I acknowledged her.

"What's wrong?" she asked me moving closer.

"_Exactly,"_ Trance told me. _"We have a week."_

"_Tell Deuce," _I gave Trance a final message.

"The Senate wants actual documentation of what the Serum can do." I told her solemnly.

"What?" she sounded confused.

"Trance just told me, he needs factual references to the Serum's dangers. I think he's proved that the Count was using it. Now we just need to prove that it has no positive intentions because of its uses." I explained.

"Well, I know where to get the first bit." Raena smiled.

"You do?" I was shocked.

"That mission was on the record Déshawn," she explained. "So…"

"It would have a vague reference to its effects at the bare minimum." I finished for her.

"Exactly, and since Shomari stole a known component to the machine, that's another piece of evidence," Raena added happily.

"I hope Master Yoda managed to hang onto the Force Jar till now," I voiced my concerns. "We must move quickly."

I moved silently along the ledge shakily, as I wasn't comfortable with our extreme heights, but Raena thought it would be better to not go into the Jedi Temple the front way. At our current location, about 3 floors below the Council's window, I had wished we just tried our hand with the massive opposition that faced us otherwise. It was windy outside, not to mention the hordes of interplanetary transports that created a gust whenever they drove past our position. I had to commend Raena's focus on keeping us blended in while she climbed the side of the mostly smooth building. The material that made up most of the building but was smoother than well refined marble, but luckily there were countless ledges, or other places to grab on safely due to the many windows.

"Almost there," Raena needlessly reassured me.

She used two more Force boosted jumps to reach the outside of the Council's window and she knocked playfully. I quickly joined her and stood as still as possible. It took a few seconds for Mace Windu to let us in the room but I was infinitely more comfortable on the firm ground.

"Why are you two not in hiding?" Adi Gallia rarely spoke first, but our appearance merited more than unorthodox behavior.

"We were discovered by a Sith Lord named Darth Brogan and his apprentice," I explained after bowing to the Council. "Jabba the Hutt tried to have us killed."

"Seek his assistance, you should not have." Yoda said in a meditative voice. "Relentlessly against the Jedi, he is."

"We've learned that thoroughly." I told him.

"But why come back here?" Mace Windu pressed.

"We need the record of our original mission to the Federation ship, when we stole the Force Jar," I told him quickly, sensing his rush.

"Find it, you will, in the archives. Clearance, you will have." Yoda said immediately.

"Now you must go quickly," Ki Adi Mundi voiced from my right. "The Federation has posted troops here in the hopes of you doing exactly what you are doing now."

"We under-" Raena stopped the same time I felt a flash of heat in my right arm.

I grabbed her quickly and pulled her backwards into the shadows of a large support pole near the back of the room. I found it ironic it was the same place she'd concealed herself when I was first introduced to her. I gripped my light saber handle tightly with my left hand as the droid walked into the room brusquely. Raena and I both sat down on our knees in the Jedi meditative posture as the droid turned in our direction and started to approach.

"_Do not breathe or move," _Raena warned in my head.

My heart pounded violently as the droid came within 5 feet of us, gun aimed directly for my head, and it seemingly looked at us.


	8. Political Ties

---------------------------

Raena and I both sat down on our knees in the Jedi meditative posture as the droid turned in our direction and started to approach.

"_Do not breathe or move," _Raena warned in my head.

My heart pounded violently as the droid came within 5 feet of us, gun aimed directly for my head, and it seemingly looked at us.

"You still believe they'll return here?" Adi Gallia spoke up irritably.

"Just following orders," the droid turned around to face the beautiful Jedi Master.

"Well then, if you're through here we need some privacy." Adi Gallia responded. It seemed she was the one that handled their conflicts with the Federation.

"Purpose?" it questioned suspiciously.

"Meditate, we must." Yoda intervened.

"Very well," the droid turned and left the room to continue its sweep.

I let out a breath of air as the members of the Council turned their eyes on Raena and I as if trying to see us. Raena stood up, releasing her illusion, and I noticed their eyes become focused on us. I saw a smile play on Mace Windu's lips.

"Well done young Colonya," Mace Windu complimented her.

"You know I love you right?" I told her in a joking but honest manner.

"Who can't?" Raena laughed.

"How do you two plan on getting out of here?" Ki Adi Mundi pointedly asked us.

"Well, are there any windows near the archives?" Raena asked with a smirk in my direction.

"Damn you and your window transportation," I cursed Raena silently.

"Why don't you like heights?" Raena asked casually as we scaled the wall back to the ground. "A Jedi shouldn't have phobias."

"If this was a phobia, I wouldn't be up here," I told her, deftly dropping down a level next to her. "But it just doesn't appeal to me."

"Well," she said leaping away from the building as we finally reached the ground. "It's a thing of the past now."

"Let's get to the library, Shomari should be there," I said taking the lead.

We silently slipped into the library in an unnoticeable fashion and spotted Deuce's cloaked form sitting at one of the access stations. Raena and I slipped up behind him and looked over his shoulder to see the information he'd pulled up.

"This is a terrible information source," Shomari complained to us. "We know more than these raggedy archives."

"I knew they would be," I told Shomari. "That's why me and Raena are going to the archives inside the Temple."

"What's so special about them?" he waved off my suggestion.

"Because, only a Jedi could change them," Raena explained. "And no matter how many droids are scurrying around there, the Federation can't remove certain information from the archives."

"Then let's go quickly," Shomari said.

It didn't take us long to get back to the Temple in Shomari's small interplanetary space pod. It wasn't hard for Raena to hide our presence, as Shomari provided a big distraction. The droids seemed almost completely focused on him, so all we had to do was trail him slightly, as Raena placed a cloak of Force over the two of us. When Shomari turned towards the doors that lead to the archives room, I realized why the droids were so reluctant to take their sights off of him. He hand the handle of light saber plainly exposed and his hand tightly wrapped around it. I smirked at his brilliance, I myself wouldn't want to turn my back on a Jedi with their hand on their light saber, especially one as dangerous as Shomari. He sat down at an access panel at the rear of the archives and began to search for information on the Serum.

"This is much better," he approved downloading any relevant information to a data pad.

"The Federation probably didn't consider us coming here before we were cleared." I reasoned.

"Let's go," he said swiftly turning and leaving.

I paused, as there was a group of droids standing at the door of the archives room talking to the head of information at her desk. She was shaking her head as if she didn't have the answers they needed.

"Here," Shomari pushed the data pad towards me. "I'll get you two out of here unseen."

"Be careful," I took the data pad unsure of his intentions.

Shomari put his cloak on to obscure his face and exploded forward pushing through the group of droids knocking most of them down. He headed out of the room turning away from the exit to the Temple

"Get him!" the head droid mechanically shouted as the pack of droids regrouped.

They all rushed out of the room heading for my younger brother leaving Raena and my way clear. We took advantage of the lack of security and quickly escaped with Trance's needed information. Raena and I continued to run nonstop until we were back in the cockpit of our space pod. I started up the communications array, and searched for Trance's COM device. His holographic image faded into view after a few seconds and he looked at me disapprovingly.

"You shouldn't have contacted me this way." He greeted.

"Where are you?" I asked ignoring his scolding.

"In my temporary room at the Senate, we're in recess." he told me.

"Perfect, Deuce got us the information we needed." I told him quickly.

"Hang on a second, let me plug in a data pad to download the info." He responded eagerly. "Okay, send it over."

I plugged in the needed data pad and transferred the information. I noticed him looking distractedly behind him.

"What's going on?" Raena noticed the same thing.

"They're bringing in a prisoner," he started. "And from what I can sense, it's Shomari."

"He must have done something stupid," I rolled my eyes. "Find out where his case is being held and contact me."

"Will do," Trance nodded. "And may the Force be with you."

"And you my good friend," I told him.

"May the Force be with you," Raena told him as I cut off the connection.

"Now what?" she asked.

"We wait." I leaned back in the chair folding my hands behind my head in a relaxed position.

The waiting was anxious, I tried meditating but I found it hard to focus in the space pod, and my mind continually wandered to my brother. What had he done? Or had the Federation made up another charge, so as to get rid of another ally of mine. I had hoped that he was smarter than to destroy any of the droids, but maybe he had done what I knew he longed to. Raena suggested that I go outside into the forest and try meditating there, but I declined not wanting to miss the call; despite her assurances that she would come get me. I knew she would, but something in my mind wouldn't let me leave. After an agonizing 30 minutes Trance's hologram reappeared with a solemn look on his face.

"He's on trial on the 12th floor here in this building," he informed me initially. "But, they won't let him represent himself."

"Why not?" I sounded confused. I knew he would argue for himself, but if he were not going to be allowed to, then they would surely assign him representation. "That means…they're going to choose his representation."

"Exactly, and he'll definitely be on their payroll," Trance agreed.

"Well, why can't he? It's against their own laws." Raena urged.

"Ah, they cited some rule about the nature of his crime. You see he's being brought up on a charge under the 'intent' category." Trance said. "And because his case is based on intent, they won't let it be his word against theirs."

"Because, who would know his intent better than him," Raena sounded hopeless.

"Me," I said simply.

"What?" Trance said.

"His case is on intent." I explained. "I'm the only one who would know his intent better than him."

"Déshawn you're not going to-" Raena started.

"Tell me everything you know about the case," I asked Trance.

"I'm not going to let you just show yourself, a wanted assassin, to the very people that want you." Trance waved me off. "Besides, your credibility right now is less than none."

"Trance," my voice was laced with determination. "You can either tell me, so I can represent him fully. Or, just let me go in blind."

"You Jacksons, I swear." Trance grumbled. "Fine."

It seems that because Shomari ran out of the archives after researching such a controversial current issue the droids stopped him "on his way to the Council's room." Trance told me that it was a sure fact that he was about to head towards the Council chambers when he was arrested. I guessed in my mind that he allowed them to arrest him because he didn't wish to shed any negative light on the Jedi Council. At the same time, I also hoped the Council denied any knowledge of his purpose for coming to them. But the problem is, he "refused to reveal his intentions" so he was arrested until he told them why he was heading to the Council's chambers.

"How can they arrest someone based solely on what they 'might' have done," Raena sounded scandalized.

"That would be our fault," I hung my head.

"What?" Raena was shocked.

"When you two left," Trance picked up. "They declared a widespread APB. Which basically means that they give the Federation almost emergency powers."

"Wouldn't that go to the Chancellor?" Raena pushed.

"But the Federation put the price on our heads. So they're letting them take us down by any means necessary." I told him. "That's the only way they managed to get droids in the Jedi Temple."

"Which is exactly why you DON'T need to go represent Shomari." Trance said.

"They can't arrest me till the end of the session," I informed him. "The Federation can't touch me until then."

"But you'll still be arrested," Raena said slowly.

"As long as my brother gets off," I told her in a resigned voice.

"Not this again!" she sounded exasperated. "You don't have to protect him and get him out of every situation he ends up in. He gave us that cover so we could escape and you're about to undo his what his very efforts were for."

"No," I said softly. "He distracted them so we could get the information out to Trance. We've done that now I'm going to go get him out."

"Déshawn, do you remember what Yoda said?" Raena took another angle of dissuasion.

"Yes, that we were to important to be captured," I told her with my head bowed. "And I'm about to violate his very sentiments, I know."

"Now you're wrong." She lifted my chin softly. "I remember him addressing YOU with the exact words 'too important you are, to be captured'. That tells me that the Council wants YOU to be free."

"What about what I want?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you have this insatiable to not let your brother face the consequences of his actions?" she came back.

"Because, I promised my mother," I said. "The very last words I told her was that I would 'protect Shomari no matter what it took'. And I intend to do just that."

"He'll be fine," she assured me.

"I know he will be," I threw on my black cloak. "Because I'm going to make sure of that."


	9. Caught Conclusion

----------------------

"Because, I promised my mother," I said. "The very last words I told her was that I would 'protect Shomari no matter what it took'. And I intend to do just that."

"He'll be fine," she assured me.

"I know he will be," I threw on my black cloak. "Because I'm going to make sure of that."

I turned and quickly left the space pod before she got a chance to argue with me, but I hadn't planned on her chasing me.

"Then I'm coming with you," she decided.

I snickered incredulously and continued on leaving Raena behind me. I refused to allow her to put herself in pointless danger when only I needed to go.

"You can let me come with you," she flipped over me and landed in front of me pulling her robe back behind her light saber. "Or you can fight your way past me."

I stopped short, was she really that determined to stop me.

"You're not coming," I said waving my hand at her releasing a ripple of Force at her.

The resulting shockwave lifted her into the air and threw her against a tree roughly causing me to wince. Satisfied my message had finally gone through, I resumed my trip as the end of the forest was in plain view. I felt a flash of heat on my neck and leaped back slightly as a pink light saber buzzed into existence from the direction I'd just thrown Raena.

"Well if you feel that way about it," Raena sounded furious, but determinedly steady. "Then I guess you're staying here."

"Fine," I relented. This got her to put her light saber back. "You can come under two conditions."

"Which would be?"

"You stay in the crowd, hidden to the best of your abilities." I explained counting it off on my hand.

"And?"

"And you simply come back here when they arrest me after the trial and do NOTHING to help free me. Verbally, mentally, or physically." I emphasized the word nothing.

"You might as well leave me here!" she said.

"My point exactly," I stepped around her.

"Fine, I'll come. But if they try anything funny…" Raena trailed off.

"If they try anything funny, all you're entitled to do is laugh." I told her firmly.

"You've got this all figured out right?" Raena said.

"Not hardly," I admitted.

"And what happens when you find out the Federation is trying Shomari personally?" She pointed out.

"In the Senate building?" I asked. "They would have took him back to the Trade Federations headquarters."

"I guess you do," she grumbled.

I stepped onto the suspended platform next to Shomari in the large room. It was a huge dome like room with a massive, circular observation area for the curious audience and in the middle was the actual area where the case was held. The judge sat at a high desk that rose about a foot and half above the other desks, that sat across the platform facing the judge's desk. The defendant was on the right side, the accusation on the left, and behind the counselors was the door that lead to stairs down to the observation area. I could sense surprise and shock coming off of every single one in the room, except for one: Shomari's fury was obvious even to those not sensitive to the Force.

"Why!" he hissed to me as I took my place next to him. "Are you here?"

"Your honor," I began in a strong voice that echoed around the chambers. "Rather than have you wait for him to be assigned a counsel I will represent him."

"_I'm going to ask for their representation," _Shomari threatened. _"You should be in hiding."_

"_Do as you wish. But I had hoped to accomplish something before I was arrested," _I thought calmly back to Shomari.

"_You've got to stop doing this!"_ was the last thought I heard from Shomari.

"And do you accept this representation?" the judge asked, giving no indication he knew who I was.

"Yes, your honor." Shomari reluctantly surrendered.

"Well then, let us begin."

After going through the initial routine the preceded all trials the case began. I could tell that it was not going to go well from the beginning, as the only witnesses to the incident were the accused, and droids: Federation droids. Even if the Federation hadn't programmed them, droid responses were extremely limited so I had to choose my words with the utmost of care. Aside from that, I couldn't sense droids thoughts so it was impossible for me to tell if it was the truth of Federation programming. However, I was assured that they had not been tampered with.

"I hope you didn't base your strategy on using our witnesses emotions," Shomari poked fun at me as I got up to cross-examine the first droid, who happened to command the unit.

I found it hard to cross-examine such an unintelligent and dependent witness. Many of my lines of questioning came to a dead end, such as "incorrect input" or "unauthorized information" which I noticed didn't seem to be a problem for my opposition. Many of the droids different responses seemed to be gauged towards displaying ignorance and some made the crowd laugh. As the case went on, and more and more droids were questioned, I started to feel humiliated at the Federation's obvious ridicule of me, in front of the jury. However, I did my best to hold my composure for my brother's sake. After several one-sided interviews with the droids, we were ordered to make our closing statement. The accusing counselor stood with a smirk on his face.

"It seems quite obvious the intentions of our defendant." He began in a booming voice. "This Jedi, was taking information to his Council that was geared to sway the Senates resolution that his brother, and Raena Colonya were justified in killing a well respected Count."

"Objection your honor," I held my voice at an even level. "I don't recall them finding any form of information on Shomari Jackson's person at the time of his arrest."

"Taken into account," the judge told me. "Continue."

This didn't seem to deter his reasoning line however. "This does not mean, however, that he did not have some information that was solely based on one side of an argument. Despite the Senate's clear restrictions that all information must take both parties into account. It is this information that he intended to take to the Jedi Council so that they could rely their information to Trance Pierson, their current representative in this shady case. I, personally, remained convinced that his family relations to Déshawn Jackson is what drove him to bring this illegitimate information to the Jedi Council."

"Hmm," Shomari mused in a quiet voice.

"What?" I whispered.

"He's focused on an opinion for his case," Shomari quietly responded.

"I think I have a more effective counter attack in mind," I assured him.

"I sincerely hope so," Shomari said as I stood up to deliver my closing argument. "Or you will have accomplished nothing by this ill-advised course of action."

"It seems to me," I began confidently. "That my respected opponent has an ill-advised view of what the title Jedi Knight entails. As a Jedi Knight, he has a certain responsibility to do his best to protect the galaxy. The Jedi Council is a simple hierarchy that meets and decides what course of action will effectively keep the galaxy safe. This means, that, should the Council required his services, he is to respond as soon as possible. Having been a Jedi for a while myself, I have found that at times when the Council summoned me, it required certain urgency in the response. Because he was researching a controversial subject means nothing. I'm sure the case being argued among the Senate has raised many questions for the people of Coruscant and that it has now become a commonly researched subject. But I wonder how many people were arrested because a droid thought they had information about it on them." At this point, I sensed several flashes of warmth roll through my body. Mainly my wrists, where handcuffs would be put, which signaled my impending arrest. I knew that by this time there were several droids waiting to arrest me outside the room already. I wrapped my argument up by paraphrasing my opposition's last sentences. "I, personally, remained convinced his loyalty to the Jedi Council drove him to the Council's door with such suspicious urgency. Seeing as he was in the Jedi Temple's archive room, it wouldn't be hard for the Council to summon him from there."

I sat down with a satisfied smirk on my face. I'd done my best to free my brother, and soon I would no longer have to run from something I did not fear.

"_Brilliant,"_ Shomari thought appreciatively in my mind.

"_I can only hope you're not the only one with that opinion,"_ I thought back apprehensively.

The judge stood up behind his desk, "because the Trade Federation has been granted some unorthodox authority in these unorthodox times. I feel the need to exercise my influence to the fullest extent I am allowed. I am going to contact your Jedi Council, and confirm that he was indeed summoned. If he was then he will be freed. If not, than he will be convicted."

"_Master Yoda," _I mentally called out to him.

"_Know your wish, I already do." _Yoda responded smoothly. _"Need him, we did. Interrupted from coming to us, he was."_

"_Thank you Master," _I thought back.

The judge sat down and pressed a few buttons on the controls behind his desk. After a few seconds, Master Windu's hologram faded into existence facing the judge, between the counselors and the judge.

"How may I help you your honor?" He asked in a convincingly confused voice.

"Have you recently summoned Jedi Knight Shomari Jackson to your chambers for any reason?" the judge asked purposely vague.

"Recent as in?" Mace Windu expertly indicated no previous knowledge of the current situation.

"Within the last two or three hours." The judge defined.

"Yes we have," Mace Windu said. "We wished to discuss his instatement as an agent of the Jedi Council."

"Very well," the judge said in a resigned voice. "Thank you for your cooperation."

"Anytime," Mace Windu nodded his head respectfully.

"We can't trust him!" the accusing counselor suddenly burst out.

"Silence," the judge ordered him. "Shomari Jackson will be released."

I let out a relieved breath of apprehension and sat back in a more relaxed posture. I felt satisfied as if I'd fulfilled my duty.

"Your welcome mom," I whispered to myself.

"Thank you Déshawn," Shomari stood up.

I matched him and squared up with him, "we're square."

I could sense Raena still in the crowd, surprisingly near the Federation droids that were about to arrest me. I turned and headed out of the courtroom, walking out of the door ahead of Shomari.

"_Do not do a thing," _I warned him.

"Halt," a mechanized voice told me from my right. "You're under arrest."

I faced the droid calmly and held out my arms to allow them to cuff me, "where am I going to be held?"

"On a private prison planet." It informed me as it placed the cuffs on my hand.

I nodded and allowed myself to be taken away without an argument as Shomari and Raena silently watched from the shadows. I knew they wouldn't allow me to stay on the Federation ship for long but I could only hope they would show the proper restraint required for the situation. I was comforted in the fact that I'd done everything I could to help those around me. I'd argued Shomari to innocence once again, I'd given Trance the information he needed, I'd made sure Raena was not arrested as well, and most importantly, I'd kept my last promise to my mother.

Another part in this endless series! Yay me! This cliffhanger is obviously going to lead into yet another sequel, so calm your worries lol


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